Burial slipper



Sept. 17, 1940. C. F. SCHULTE 2,215,135

BURIAL SLIPPER Filed May 16, 1939 Iig 4 BY /ga-v-rr MMV ATTORNEYSPatented Sept. 17, 1940 BURIAL SLIPPER Charles F. Schulte, Columbus',Ohio, assignor to Practical Burial Slipper Company, Columbus, Ohio, alirm composed of Clara B. Schulte and Charles F. Schulte `ApplicationMay 16, 1939, Serial No. 273,956

1 Claim.

.My invention relatesto a burial slipper. It has to do, moreparticularly, with a slipper or shoe which is of such a nature that itwill readily fit the foot of a deceased person.

Diiiiculty has been Iexperienced in the past in providing proper burialslippers or shoes of such a nature that they would readily t the feet ofdeceased persons lwhich are usually misshapen and difficult to fit.Also, it has been necessary in the past for an undertaker to keep alarge number of different sizes of slippers or shoes in stock in orderto lit various sized feet. The result is that the undertaker usually hasa large number of shoes or slippers of dil'erent styles and sizes onhand which become soiled and must be discarded for this reason or whichmust be discarded for other reasons.

There have been attempts in the past to provide slippers which could bestretched in order to fit the feet of a deceased person. These slippershave usually'been made of material cut on the bias in order that theywould stretch to a limited extent. Although these slippers would stretchto a limited extent so as to fit misshapen feet, it was still necessaryto provide a larg-e number of different sizes to fit diierent sizedfeet.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a burial slipper whichis made of material of such a nature that it may be stretched to t awide range of sizes and shapes of the human foot.

Another object of my invention is to provide a slipper of the typeindicated which is of pleasing appearance.

Another object of my invention is to provide a slipper of the typeindicated which may bev manufactured and sold at a relatively low cost.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing wherein similar characters of reference designatecorresponding parts and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a slipper made according to myinvention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the material of theslipper showing the material in constricted or natural condition.

Figure 3 is a similar. view showing' the material in expanded orstretched condition.

Figure 4 is a perspective View of a portion of the material illustratingdetails of its construction.

Figure 5 is a plan view illustrating by dotted lines how the slipper canbe expanded.

With reference to the drawing, I have illustrated in Figure 1 a slippermade according to my invention. This slipper l may be of any usual formor style. The slipper is made entirely of material which will stretch inall directions so that it will fit a wide range of sizes and shapes ofthe human foot. The slipper has a band 2 sewed around its upper edgewhich is preferably of elastic material.

In Figures 2, 3 and 4, I have illustrated the material which I use inmaking the slipper. This material consists of cloth which inherently isnot yieldable or elastic and normally will, therefore, not stretch.However, the cloth has stitched thereto and arranged in .a suitablemanner an elastic or rubber cord which normally tends. to constrict thematerial and make the slipper very small while still retaining itsshape, as indicated in Figure 1. However, the

elastic or rubber cord will permit the material to be exanded orstretched to its original size so that the slipper may be stretched to ta wide range of sizes and shapes of the human foot.

Thus, as indicated in the drawing, the material of the slipper consistsof cloth 3 woven in the usual manner. This cloth has stitched thereto anelastic or rubber cord 4 which is arranged in anyvsuitable manner totend to gather the cloth 3 to which it is attached. As shown in thedrawing, two of these cords 4 are associated with each other. Each ofthese cords follows a zigzag path and intersects the other at regularintervals to form ellipses. With the elastic cords arranged in thismanner and with the cloth 3 stitched to the cords by the stitching 5,the cloth 3 will normally be constricted and will have a rippledappearance, as indicated in Figures 1, 21 and 4. When the material isconstructed, the article will have a denite shape like an ordinaryslipper. The material may be stretched in all directions as indicated bythe arrows in Figure 3. When the material is stretched to its limit, thecloth 3 will be expanded to its flat condition as illustrated in Figure3, the elastic cord permitting this.

In Figure 4 the material is shown as consisting of two layers 6 and 1stitched to the cords 4. However, one layer may be used if desired.

The cords 4 may consist of any suitable elastic material such as rubber,latex or synthetic rubber. The cloth 3 may be of any suitable type suchas satin, crepe or velvet which normally will not stretch or willstretch only to a limited extent.

As indicated in Figure 5 by the dotted lines, the slipper I may bestretched in all directions to it a wide range of sizes and shapes ofthe human foot.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have provided aslipper having many advantages. This slipper is made of material of sucha nature that it will stretch in all directions to t a wide range ofsizes and shapes of the human foot. Although I prefer the particularmaterial illustrated, the slipper need not be made of this particularmaterial. It is sufficient for the material to have the characteristicsmentioned, that is, a cloth which will not stretch at all or to alimited extent in combination with an elastic material stitched yorotherwise associated therewith tending to constrict the cloth to a sizesmaller than its natural size. When in c'onstricted condition, thematerial will have sufficient body that the article can be made to looklike an ordinary slipper.

Various other advantages will be apparent from the precedingdescription, the drawing and the following claim.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

A burial slipper adapted to be applicable to a wide range of sizes andshapes of the human foot and consisting of` an upper and a sole made ofmaterial which will stretch to a great extent in all directions, saidmaterial consisting. of cloth which normally will have only a limitedstretch and having elastic associated therewith in such a manner thatthe cloth is normally gathered up from all directions to a size lessthan its natural size so as to cause the slipper to normally assume theminimum size for which it is designed but is capable of being stretchedin all directions so as to cause the slipper to assume any size up toythe maximum for which it is designed without producing any appreciablestretch of the cloth itself, and an elastic binding for the foot openingof said slipper.

CHARLES F. SCHU'LTE.

